Debra Hill, 54, Film Producer Who Helped Create 'Halloween'

Published: March 8, 2005

Debra Hill, co-writer of the horror classic ''Halloween,'' who rose through Hollywood's ranks to become a pioneer as a woman in film production, died here on Monday. She was 54.

The cause was cancer, according to a family friend, Barbara Ligeti.

Ms. Hill's big break came in horror films when she and the director John Carpenter wrote a modern classic in the genre, ''Halloween.''

The 1978 film, also directed by Mr. Carpenter and produced by Ms. Hill, starred Jamie Lee Curtis, 20 years old at the time, as a baby sitter terrorized by a murderous psychopath. Made on a modest $300,000 budget, it grossed $60 million worldwide, then a record for an independent movie, and began a seemingly endless chain of sequels.

Ms. Hill, Mr. Carpenter and Ms. Curtis returned for ''Halloween II,'' and Ms. Hill and Mr. Carpenter were involved in the writing of several later sequels, including ''Halloween: Resurrection,'' ''Halloween 5'' and ''Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.'' A ''Halloween 9'' is reported by the Internet Movie Database to be in production.

After her ''Halloween'' run, Ms. Hill joined her friend Lynda Obst in 1986 in forming an independent production company, which made ''Adventures in Babysitting'' and ''Heartbreak Hotel,'' both directed by Chris Columbus, and Terry Gilliam's ''Fisher King,'' with Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges.

In 1988 she entered a contract with Walt Disney Pictures under which she produced the feature ''Gross Anatomy,'' short films for the Disney theme parks and an NBC special for Disneyland's 35th anniversary.

Other films she produced included ''The Dead Zone'' (1983), ''Head Office'' (1985) and ''Clue'' (1985).

''Back when I started in 1974, there were very few women in the industry, and everybody called me 'Honey,''' she recalled in 2003. ''I was assumed to be the makeup and hair person, or the script person. I was never assumed to be the writer or producer. I took a look around and realized there weren't many women, so I had to carve a niche for myself.''

Born in Haddonfield, N.J., Ms. Hill grew up in Philadelphia. She began as a production assistant on adventure documentaries, working up to films as a script supervisor, which required sitting beside the director and keeping a record of each scene.

From there she landed jobs as assistant director and second-unit director and became associated with Mr. Carpenter, who was then a rising young director.

The two also collaborated on ''The Fog'' in 1980 and ''Escape From New York'' in 1981.

When she was honored by Women in Film in 2003, Ms. Hill said: ''I hope some day there won't be a need for Women in Film. That it will be People in Film.''